How To Start, Stop, or Disable a Service in Windows 11 & 10

On Windows 11 & 10, you can easily start, stop, or disable any service. Here’s how to do it in simple and easy steps.

By default, installed applications and Windows generally manage the services in the background. In most cases, you don’t have to change a service’s behavior. However, there might be times when you need to start, stop, or even disable a specific service. For example, I use Everything to search my computer. For it to run properly, it needs to run its service in the background. However, for whatever reason, it stopped. So, I had to manually start the service and set it to start automatically for the application to work properly. On the other hand, there might also be situations where you need to stop or disable a specific service.

Regardless of your specific reason, if you ever want to, here’s how you can quickly and easily start, stop, or disable a service in Windows 11 and Windows 10 using the built-in Windows Services tool. Let’s get started.

Before You Start

• Administrator rights are required to manage services in Windows 11 and Windows 10.

How To Stop a Service in Windows 11 & 10

1. Press the “Windows key + R” shortcut to open the Run dialog.
2. Type “services.msc” and click “OK“.
3. The above action opens the Services window.
4. Find and right-click the service you want to stop.
5. Select the “Stop” option.
6. Windows will immediately stop the service.

How To Start a Service in Windows 11 & 10

1. Open the Start menu by pressing the “Windows” key.
2. Search and open “Services“.
3. Find the service you want to start and right-click it.
4. Select the “Start” option.
5. This action starts the service immediately.

Note: This is optional, but if you want the service to start automatically (as and when needed by Windows or any application), you must change the startup behavior. To do that, right-click the service and select “Properties“. Select “Automatic” or “Automatic (delayed)” from the “Startup Type” dropdown menu.

How To Disable a Service in Windows 11 & 10

Sometimes, you might not want a specific service to run in the background, either manually or automatically.

1. Press the “Windows key + R” shortcut to open the Run dialog.
2. Type “services.msc” and click “OK“.
3. Find the service you want to disable and right-click it.
4. Select the “Properties” option.
5. Select “Disabled” from the “Startup type” dropdown.
6. Click the “OK” button.
7. Close the Services window.
8. Restart your computer.
9. After restarting, the service is disabled.

Note: If you want the service to run again, simply start it as shown in the “How to start a service in Windows 11 & 10” section above.

That is all. It is that simple to start, stop, or even disable a service. If a specific service is left behind by an uninstalled application and it is causing problems even when it is disabled, you can also delete the service in Windows.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.